We’re so excited to have Laura Minor, Blaike Cheramie and Chanel Otec interning with our kids ministry this summer.

Laura is a Marine Biology major at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa. Though a scientist by trade, she’s also an artist at heart. She loves playing and writing music whenever she has free time, as well as capturing beautiful images through photography. As summer gets underway, she is excited about helping hands-on with the hundreds of kids who will be joining us here at Hillside for this year’s Summer Blast.

As a young servant leader, Laura is looking forward not only to meeting new and wonderful people through this summer experience, but also to growing in her personal connection with Christ. She believes that, “God is teaching me to dare to dig deeper into His word and challenging me to learn every aspect about His love.”

Her favorite Bible verse is Zephaniah 3:17, “The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”

Blaike is also super excited to be a part of Summer Blast this year, and for those planning on joining us for it, is confident that, “it will be the best week of your life!” More than that, she is eager to grow spiritually as she works alongside her fellow summer interns and Hillside staff. Through this experience, she is hoping to learn more about the inner-workings of the church, and give back to the wonderful Hillside community that she grew up in.

When the summer is over, Blaike will return to Scripps College in Claremont for her sophomore year. At Scripps, she is a Classics major, studying ancient Greco-Roman culture, philosophy, language, and history. She also plans to double minor in French and Music. Like Laura, Blaike is also passionate about the arts, and spends much of her free time writing songs and playing her piano, guitar and ukulele. The other part of that time is spent with her friends and family or outside in the fresh air.

Lately Blaike feels that God has been instilling in her a sense of complete dependence on Him. She is aiming to put her trust in God completely with all that she does and is learning more and more that without Him at the forefront, nothing she does holds any heavenly value. Part of this stretch of faith for her involves fully embracing her favorite verse Jeremiah 29:11, which says, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”

Like her fellow Kids interns, Chanel is hoping to grow deeper in her personal relationship with Jesus and gain some life-long friends and mentors-in-Christ who can help her develop as a leader. At this time, she feels that God is teaching her how to be more disciplined and is molding her into the woman He wants her to be.

Chanel is an introvert at heart, but nothing re-energizes her like spending time with a good book. During the school year, she is a Pre-Nursing major at California Baptist University in Riverside. She will be heading into her second year of college at the end of the summer. Her life verse is Matthew 5: 16, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

We pray this summer that each of these intern’s lights will shine this summer as they serve our children faithfully!

By Tyla Hairston
Communications Intern